News and views from a British antique textile dealer who has always sourced the best linens and fabrics from La France Profonde. Now branching out into Vintage Armchairs for Seniors needing comfort and support. Contact: dbaer@onetel.com
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Friday, 28 June 2013

A buying spree in PARIS

CARRIED AWAY IN THE FLEA MARKETS OF PARIS!

I went on a Paris tour organised by local travel company, and a couple of T.V. presenters came with us to film our activities in the flea markets of Paris. The spongeware washing set on left was generally installed in the outside 'loo' beyond the backdoor, it had to be filled by hand as there was no running water . It was called the 'fontaine'.with hand basin and soap dish. The two solid carpet chairs circa 1890 being loaded on the right, became very fashionable in the 'shabby chic' look, but it was very difficult to replace the fringes and tassels which had often been chewed by little French dogs. The seller was reluctant to help me carry them back to my tour bus, but when I mentioned the T.V. cameras were there, the response was quite different!
The kitchen cabinet with enamel panels in blue/white checks, all over, was a good find. The photo of the cabinet, seems to have disappeared off my screen, but it was a very splendid affair and sold immediately .I showed it at the London Little 'Chelsea Fair. You can get a peep behind the chair being loaded (by me!) into the back of the bus.! Enamel was hailed as being clean and hygienic to supersede the old wooden cupboards in the 20s and 30s and the many attractive enamel cooking utensils produced then have become popular for decorating modern kitchens.

Below, loading carpet chairs into our capacious bus. The market at Porte de Vanves in Paris was a good one as lots of country dealers came to it with their latest 'finds' trouvailles, but my last visit this year was rather disappointing. It is huge, running along many streets and is held at weekends.

2 hefty carpet chairs make it into the bus, plus a dinky kitchen cabinet; all disappear into the bus attended by the TV cameras .

Before I buried myself in heaps of old rags and the like, I had a very small business, dealing in folk art for a NAIVE ART PICTURE GALLERY and it was on holidays in France that I started exploring rural French interiors. Like most people, I thought the lovely enamel cook-ware was so attractive and started buying it and I jumped at the chance to go with this organised party led by Judith Miller, author and television personality, to the Paris flea markets, for a programme called the Antiques Trail. It was a very economical bus trip with two nights in Paris , COSTING JUST £28. I asked if there might be room to carry a few(!) antiques in the bus luggage holds - 'oh, yes, plenty!' Most people were buying inexpensive presents, scent bottles and such like, so I'm afraid I took advantage of all the empty luggage space and you can see that I bought a bit of enamel - in fact a whole wonderful kitchen cupboard entirely covered with blue/white check panels, quite a rarity! As there was plenty of room left, I then persuaded a dealer to help me carry two large carpet covered chairs to stow away and this seemed to delight Judith's cameramen who filmed the astonished trader delivering the goods! Those were the days!